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American Morning
Bombs Going Off in Baghdad; Discussion with Former 9/11 Commissioner Tim Roemer
Aired February 18, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Bombs going off in Baghdad. Two mosques hit in the last few hours, many casualties to report this morning.
Merck sending shockwaves when it pulled Vioxx from the market. But could the drug be coming back?
Starpower in Washington, D.C. Governor Schwarzenegger draws a big crowd everywhere he goes. But does it help California?
And love at first sight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who couldn't be in love with this kid?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The Army captain who went off to war and came home with a little boy, new best friends on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We almost made it here, it's Friday. Good morning, everybody. 7:00 here. Good morning to you as well.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
HEMMER: Other stories we're watching this hour. In a moment here, the selection of John Negroponte to be the new director of national intelligence. The post came into existence because of the work of the 9/11 Commission. How do the commissioners feel about this selection? We'll talk to one of them in a moment, former Congressman Tim Roemer, our guest down in D.C.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, have satellite photos picked up something in Iran that the Iranians didn't want anybody to see, evidence of tunnels. If so, how are they dug? What are they hiding? Retired General David Grange is going to join us to us talk about that.
All right, Jack Cafferty, on a Friday, good morning. What's on your mind?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: They're called the "Borgata Babes," a staff of sexy cocktail waitresses at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City. In an effort to keep the Borgata Babes from becoming the Borgata blimps, the casino is threatening to fire them if they gain weight, and everybody is all stirred up about that. We figured it would be a good Friday topic, so we'll fiddle with that in a few minutes.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: New developments out of Iraq to talk about, first though, two explosions near mosques, one blast, a suicide bombing killing at least 17 people seriously wounding over a dozen more.
CNN's Nic Robertson live in the Iraqi capital for us this morning.
Nic, good morning.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
With the very latest details we're getting in, both those blasts suicide attacks. The two mosques, both Shia Muslim mosques. And what we have just learned from U.S. military officials, they say that at the second blast, that the mosque in the western outskirts of Baghdad, there were apparently, they say, what appears to have been two suicide attackers. The first one detonated his explosives, wounding at least six people. The other one at that mosque was shot dead by guards at the mosque before he could detonate his explosives.
The blast on the southern outskirts of Baghdad at the Shia Muslim mosque there targeting worshipers as they were proceeding towards the mosque. According to an eyewitness, the suicide bomber entered the crowd detonated his explosives, killing the 17 people, wounding at least 20 more. And U.S. military officials here guide us that these casualty figures could change. They say, very likely, the numbers of dead and injured could go up. All these attacks occurring at a weekend that is a very holy weekend for Shia Muslims. It is the holy festival of Bashura (ph). This weekend, last year, more than 180 Shia Muslims killed at the same festival by multiple suicide and bombing attacks -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning. As you mentioned, those numbers could change. Of course, we'll keep everybody up to speed about that.
Heidi Collins has the latest news headlines for us this morning. Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, and happy Friday as well. Good morning to you, everybody.
Now in the news this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin says Iran is not trying to develop nuclear weapons. Putin making the announcement just an hour ago, following a meeting with Iran's security chief. According to Russia's Interfax news agency, Putin is planning to visit Iran soon, and says his country will continue aiding Iran's nuclear program.
President Bush preparing for his fence-mending trip to Europe. The president is expected to meet with several major political leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, and French President Jacques Chirac. President Bush and the first lady are set to leave for Belgium on Sunday. They will also visit Germany and the Slavic Republic.
Entertainer Bill Cosby may not be out of the woods just yet over claims that he fondled a woman. Authorities in Pennsylvania say he won't face criminal charges, because investigators found there was not enough evidence that Cosby fondled a woman in his Philadelphia home last year, but the accuser's lawyer blasted the decision, saying the woman is still likely to file civil charges.
And doctors say a procedure on a preemy with a heart the size of a small grape is a success. Surgeons in Stanford, California say this two-week old infant is the smallest baby to ever survive an open heart procedure called an arterial switch. The newborn was given a zero chance of survival when he was airlifted to the hospital, but he's now expected to make a full recovery.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta of course is going to have more on this amazing story coming up in the next hour.
Isn't that fantastic?
O'BRIEN: From zero to full recovery, yes, that's a big difference.
COLLINS: Unbelievable.
HEMMER: Thank you, Heidi.
Our top story this morning concerns the man tapped by the president to oversee the nation's 15 intelligence agencies. Career diplomat John Negroponte is considered likely to win Senate confirmation as America's first director of national intelligence. But expect to hear much in the coming days about controversy dogging Negroponte over his last four decades of government service. The 65- year-old Negroponte joined the Diplomatic Corps in 1960, eventually holding posts in Asia, in Europe and in Latin America. He's most recent jobs, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. until an employment last June as America's top diplomat in Baghdad.
Prior to that U.N. post though, Negroponte was linked to controversy in Central America, suspected of a key role in the Reagan administration's support of Contra rebels in Nicaragua. That as well as America's sale of missiles to Iran resulted in became known then as the Iran-Contra scandal.
It, however, was a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission that led to creating the post of national intelligence czar. And John Negroponte's nomination drew a favorable response from some key members of that panel. Former chairman Tom Kean and Vice chairman Lee Hamilton calling him a highly respected diplomat. This morning, as part of our continuing security watch, I'm joined by another former member of that commission. Tim Roemer is our guest now in D.C.
Good morning. Welcome back here.
TIM ROEMER, FMR. 9/11 COMMISSIONER: Bill, great to see you again.
HEMMER: Do you agree with the menu worked under on that commission, a highly respected diplomat and a man suited for this job?
ROEMER: I think that John Negroponte is a highly respected diplomat. That's one part of many parts of this job, Bill.
I remember in reading history when Harry Truman found out that Franklin Roosevelt had died and he had to take over as president, he said he felt like the moon, the stars and the sun had fallen on him, and he asked for a prayer.
This is a huge job, and it will depend a great deal on how much the president gives in terms of his full confidence and authority to help this new director of national intelligence win some turf battles, get some budget and personnel wins, put some priorities on changing the CIA and the FBI cultures, that are not very receptive to change, and also working with Congress to get some things done on Capitol Hill.
HEMMER: You describe this...
ROEMER: This is a big job.
HEMMER: Yes, a big job. You said a huge job earlier. Apparently, the former CIA director, Robert Gates, reportedly turned this offer down. Do you believe John Negroponte can win in this job, as you describe it, as huge?
ROEMER: I think that he can. I think he's got a lot of work ahead of him, Bill. We've got to see how we unify and coordinate 15 disparate agencies. We have to install confidence back in the kind of product that the intelligence community puts out there, after the mistakes on misgauging and making some mistakes leading up to 9/11, and on weapons of mass destruction leading into Iraq.
If you're a consumer of intelligence today, if you're on Capitol Hill as a policymaker, you don't have a lot of confidence in the product coming out of some of these intelligence bureaus. That needs to be fixed.
HEMMER: For the past 24 hours, the criticism we have heard about John Negroponte is that he does not have a solid intelligence background, primarily working on the diplomatic side. Does that concern you?
ROEMER: That concerns me a little bit. Listen, there are three parts of this, just on the intelligence side. Ambassador Negroponte has the consumer, you know. He's looked at this information before. He's dealt with it, and then given feedback to the intelligence communities, particularly now in Iraq, which is a tough place, Bill.
We're finding out more and more, given the testimony of Porter Goss the other day, that Iraq is turning not only into a training ground for terrorists, but kind of a conveyor belt to spit them out all over the world, that they can then come back at us. We're worried that these terrorists now might get ahold of nuclear, chemical, biological weapons. Where I work at the Center for National Policy, we're very concerned about this possibility, and we want to work on that. That's a big part of John Negroponte's job in the future, is coordinating the FBI and the CIA's response to this, so that if a chemical or biological weapon is picked up by a terrorist group, it does not get into the United States.
HEMMER: A democratic colleague of yours, Jane Harman, said she told him apparently, you're leaving the Green Zone in Baghdad, headed for the red zone back in Washington. We'll see if, indeed, that is the case.
Good to talk with you, Tim Roemer.
ROEMER: Bill, always great to see you.
HEMMER: You got it. Have a good weekend.
And be sure to stay tuned day and night to CNN for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, Mr. Schwarzenegger goes to Washington. It's politics, California-style. The Republican governor yesterday visited Washington to meet with representatives from California. The meetings are part of a campaign to seek more federal funding. Schwarzenegger says the money is needed to do help solve the state's $8 billion budget problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: We are not asking the White House, and we are not asking the federal government or anyone here in Washington to bail us out. We are not asking to go and get a handout. We just want our fair share.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Political experts say Schwarzenegger faces an uphill battle from politically divided politicians in California.
HEMMER: From the state of Oregon, an alternative now to mud- slinging politicians, Howard Dean, who's the new head of the DNC, was debating former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle yesterday when a protester threw a shoe at Perle and called him a liar. Perle was the key architect of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq and Dean has been one of the war's most vocal opponents. A different strategy.
O'BRIEN: You can't throw your shoe and not have people know it was you, right? I mean, at some point...
HEMMER: Tough to get away when the cameras are rolling.
O'BRIEN; Unless you have an extra one in your handbag or something.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: A woman's SUV flips into an icy river. She's trapped inside. That's part of the story. A box of chocolates may have saved her life, so they say. And we'll explain that in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Also, an American soldier turned guardian angel. One man takes an Iraqi orphan into his heart and into his home.
HEMMER: Also, is there more evidence of Iran's true nuclear ambitions? A look at what could be hiding underground. That's next here on AMERICAN MORNING, live in New York City, on a Friday edition.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: New satellite pictures suggest that Iran may be building a tunnel to develop and hide nuclear weapons. That's according to an international thinktank. The photographs were taken last Saturday from a civilian satellite over central Iran. Iran contends the facility is to be used for peaceful purposes.
Spoke this morning retired Brigadier General David Grange a few moments ago, asked him what his opinion is of what's shown in the images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They are tunnels and, you know, they're for several reasons, I believe. One, the obvious reason is to protect something, to protect parts of their nuclear program, or to hide capability. The other is to store missile-launching capabilities, in other words, the launching vehicles that you would put missiles on to fire just regular conventional warheads, or if they had the capability, some type of a nuclear warhead.
And the other, which I kind of tend to go with, is that it's really more of a deception. In other words, it's great to have these things that it can put something in to protect, but it draws your attention maybe from the real area, and I think we need to consider that.
O'BRIEN: When you say deception, you mean it's -- there's another area where work's going on and it's trying to get everyone to focus on another area, or are you saying that the Iranians aren't actually as far along as everyone thinks that they are, and this is sort of a way to trick people? Diversion or deception? GRANGE: Yes, those are both great points on a vehicle of disinformation, deception. One is, they think about Saddam. He never denied with WMD, wanted a lot of people to think he did have it. And Iran can deal a little bit from the power of this unknown capability with the rest of the world, definitely get the world's attention, if they have that capability, we think they have that capability, just like North Korea.
The other is that there they're really aggressively pursuing this program, and they know that with commercial satellite capability, the whole world can see these photographs. And so why not draw everybody's attention to this site, whereas somewhere else they have a real hardcore program going on.
O'BRIEN: Well, the third version could be that this is actually a hardcore program going on and there's weapons of mass destruction being held inside that tunnel. Why don't you think that that's a viable scenario?
GRANGE: Well, it is a viable scenario. It's a bit obvious to me. I don't think that they could be that blatant. But again, maybe so. And the thing about these tunnels is it's very hard to use a conventional type munition to destroy what may be deeply inside these tunnels. It's a very difficult target with conventional warheads.
O'BRIEN: I was going to ask exactly that. Is there any way to take out something like that, that's obviously seen from a commercial satellite?
GRANGE: Well, you know, the inspection team would have a better idea of the depth of the tunnels, how many corners there are in the tunnels of blast walls, things like this, that would make it very difficult, even with some of the advance munitions, that we and other nations have to penetrate and do damage inside.
Other than that, sometimes those type of tunnels, the optimum weapon actually is another nuclear weapon, a low-yield penetrating type nuclear weapon to take something like that out.
O'BRIEN: A moment ago, you mentioned North Korea, and you've said in the past that the Iranians have learned a fair amount from North Korea. What do you mean by that?
GRANGE: Well, they're buddies, I mean, they share information, just like Iraq, Libya before they stopped, Iran, North Korea. They share information. I think they trade some things. North Korea's an expert at deception. They are the world's foremost tunnel rats. That whole country is inundated with tunnels, hard-to-get-to targets to hide capability, and just conventional weapons systems. I mean, they hide entire trains in mountainsides that are very difficult to take out in war. And I think that Iran is emulating that.
You know, it's very beneficial today to go subterranean with some of your critical capability.
(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: That's Brigadier General David Grange, retired, joining us this morning. Regarding Iran's nuclear plans, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, last visited the site in November, at which time there was no equipment in that tunnel -- bill.
HEMMER: From Maryland, Soledad, state prosecutors say they will review the case of a police officer acquitted yesterday on assault charges. That acquittal coming despite a videotape shows the officer striking a carjacking suspect while handcuffed back in 2003. The officer, rather, testified he acted after the suspect reached for his waistband as if going for a gun, and jurors say they believed the officer acted appropriately.
O'BRIEN: Well, you've heard of the health benefits of chocolate. But in Canada, a box of chocolates may have helped save a woman's life. On Valentine's Day, the woman's SUV flipped into a freezing river in southeast British Columbia. She was trapped inside for about two hours, breathing out of an air pocket. At one point she nibbled on some chocolates from a heart-shaped box.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON GRYPMA, NELSON FIRE & RESCUE: The sugar content of the chocolate helped maintain some of her body warmth and slow down the set-in of hypothermia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Rescuers then were able to pull the woman out of a window and she, in fact, was hospitalized for hypothermia and eventually released.
HEMMER: She won't forget that Valentine's Day, will she?
O'BRIEN: She really loves that guy.
HEMMER: I'm telling you.
In a moment here, Congress makes sweeping changes to the rules on class-action lawsuits. Some consumer groups, though, not happy about it.
Andy Serwer explains, "Minding Your Business" in a moment here, back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everyone. A big victory for some big companies. Andy has that, plus a check of Wall Street from yesterday.
"Minding Your Business." Happy Friday to you. Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good to see you this Friday.
Back down the roller coaster we go on Wall Street. The Dow down 80 points yesterday. Stocks spooked a bit by President Bush's comments about Syrian troops needing to exit Lebanon. Also, Alan Greenspan's remarks about interest rates going up. Why is that a surprise to anybody?
President Bush is set to sign a bill this morning that could significantly change the way class-action lawsuits are filed in this country. And listen up, because this is actually big news. The bill makes it easier for defendants, now it's mostly big business, to move lawsuits from state courts to federal courts.
Here's how it would work: If the lawsuit is filed in multiple states and is more than $5 million, it could go to federal court. That prevents lawyers from shopping cases around to counties that are very friendly to class-action lawsuits. And I think if you're a Republican or a Democrat, you can acknowledge that there have been abuses in this system.
Let's talk about some of the counties where these cases have been shopped. Very interesting. These are litigation-friendly counties -- Madison County, Illinois is known as the class-action county Capitol of the world -- the class-action lawsuits of Madison County. Also St. Clair County of Illinois. The other one was actually in Iowa. That was the bridges of Madison County. Hampton County, South Carolina, Jefferson County, Texas. These are counties where if you have, say a group of litigants suing a drug company, you want to get your case in this county, because jurors and state judges are very friendly there. So big companies have obviously been pushing this, and we'll really have to see how this changes class-action landscape.
HEMMER: Madison County is where in Illinois?
SERWER: I believe it's downstate, yes, because of farmers down there, retired farmers, they say friendly.
HEMMER: So you go against the client in that particular jurisdiction, and you've got the case.
SERWER: Yes, that's absolutely correct, you find one there. It's an interesting system.
HEMMER: All right, thank you, Andy.
SERWER: Talk to you later.
O'BRIEN: Talking about lawsuits, this certainly has lawsuit written all over it.
CAFFERTY: Oh yes, maybe. Well, We'll see. Lose weight or lose your job. That's what Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel and Casino is telling its 210 cocktail waitresses. They're called the Borgata Babes. They're touted as the sexiest cocktail waitresses in Atlantic City. Nobody's arguing. Borgata imposed the weight restrictions on its servers after seeing some of the staff beginning to ooze out of their skimpy costumes.
Now all servers have to step on the scale to determine their baseline weight. If they gain more than 7 percent, they'll be suspended and put on a Borgata-sponsored weight-loss program. If they don't lose the weight, they're fired. Women's rights advocates and of course the cocktail waitress union are furious. They're calling the new policy discriminatory. The casino says the Borgata Babes are a part of their image, part of their marketing plan, and therefore, they can do whatever they want.
Here's the question, should employees be fired for gaining weight? Am@CNN.com.
HEMMER: Yes, not a bad casino down there, by the way. Atlantic city has had a tough couple years.
SERWER: Yes, but what if we were held to that?
O'BRIEN: And so not the question.
SERWER: You're dodging it, Bill.
HEMMER: But if you're ever in Atlantic City, it's not a bad joint to hang out.
O'BRIEN: But maybe not go to the bar. You might not want to support an organization that does that. Or maybe you would. I guess we'll hear from the viewers, won't we?
HEMMER: Seven percent.
SERWER: Yes, 7 percent solution.
O'BRIEN: That's not very much weight, by the way. I gained 40 percent of my body weight when I was pregnant with the twins. So 7 percent is just a handful of pounds. I am so far from Borgata Babe, not even funny.
Anyway, enough about that. A short break, and we're right back.
Ahead on "90-Second Pop," George Michael sets the record straight before he calls it quits. What does he mean when he says he's going to disappear?
Plus, "American Idol" is as successful as ever. But what's this we hear about friction between the judges? That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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Aired February 18, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Bombs going off in Baghdad. Two mosques hit in the last few hours, many casualties to report this morning.
Merck sending shockwaves when it pulled Vioxx from the market. But could the drug be coming back?
Starpower in Washington, D.C. Governor Schwarzenegger draws a big crowd everywhere he goes. But does it help California?
And love at first sight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who couldn't be in love with this kid?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The Army captain who went off to war and came home with a little boy, new best friends on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We almost made it here, it's Friday. Good morning, everybody. 7:00 here. Good morning to you as well.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
HEMMER: Other stories we're watching this hour. In a moment here, the selection of John Negroponte to be the new director of national intelligence. The post came into existence because of the work of the 9/11 Commission. How do the commissioners feel about this selection? We'll talk to one of them in a moment, former Congressman Tim Roemer, our guest down in D.C.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, have satellite photos picked up something in Iran that the Iranians didn't want anybody to see, evidence of tunnels. If so, how are they dug? What are they hiding? Retired General David Grange is going to join us to us talk about that.
All right, Jack Cafferty, on a Friday, good morning. What's on your mind?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: They're called the "Borgata Babes," a staff of sexy cocktail waitresses at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City. In an effort to keep the Borgata Babes from becoming the Borgata blimps, the casino is threatening to fire them if they gain weight, and everybody is all stirred up about that. We figured it would be a good Friday topic, so we'll fiddle with that in a few minutes.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: New developments out of Iraq to talk about, first though, two explosions near mosques, one blast, a suicide bombing killing at least 17 people seriously wounding over a dozen more.
CNN's Nic Robertson live in the Iraqi capital for us this morning.
Nic, good morning.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
With the very latest details we're getting in, both those blasts suicide attacks. The two mosques, both Shia Muslim mosques. And what we have just learned from U.S. military officials, they say that at the second blast, that the mosque in the western outskirts of Baghdad, there were apparently, they say, what appears to have been two suicide attackers. The first one detonated his explosives, wounding at least six people. The other one at that mosque was shot dead by guards at the mosque before he could detonate his explosives.
The blast on the southern outskirts of Baghdad at the Shia Muslim mosque there targeting worshipers as they were proceeding towards the mosque. According to an eyewitness, the suicide bomber entered the crowd detonated his explosives, killing the 17 people, wounding at least 20 more. And U.S. military officials here guide us that these casualty figures could change. They say, very likely, the numbers of dead and injured could go up. All these attacks occurring at a weekend that is a very holy weekend for Shia Muslims. It is the holy festival of Bashura (ph). This weekend, last year, more than 180 Shia Muslims killed at the same festival by multiple suicide and bombing attacks -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning. As you mentioned, those numbers could change. Of course, we'll keep everybody up to speed about that.
Heidi Collins has the latest news headlines for us this morning. Good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, and happy Friday as well. Good morning to you, everybody.
Now in the news this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin says Iran is not trying to develop nuclear weapons. Putin making the announcement just an hour ago, following a meeting with Iran's security chief. According to Russia's Interfax news agency, Putin is planning to visit Iran soon, and says his country will continue aiding Iran's nuclear program.
President Bush preparing for his fence-mending trip to Europe. The president is expected to meet with several major political leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, and French President Jacques Chirac. President Bush and the first lady are set to leave for Belgium on Sunday. They will also visit Germany and the Slavic Republic.
Entertainer Bill Cosby may not be out of the woods just yet over claims that he fondled a woman. Authorities in Pennsylvania say he won't face criminal charges, because investigators found there was not enough evidence that Cosby fondled a woman in his Philadelphia home last year, but the accuser's lawyer blasted the decision, saying the woman is still likely to file civil charges.
And doctors say a procedure on a preemy with a heart the size of a small grape is a success. Surgeons in Stanford, California say this two-week old infant is the smallest baby to ever survive an open heart procedure called an arterial switch. The newborn was given a zero chance of survival when he was airlifted to the hospital, but he's now expected to make a full recovery.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta of course is going to have more on this amazing story coming up in the next hour.
Isn't that fantastic?
O'BRIEN: From zero to full recovery, yes, that's a big difference.
COLLINS: Unbelievable.
HEMMER: Thank you, Heidi.
Our top story this morning concerns the man tapped by the president to oversee the nation's 15 intelligence agencies. Career diplomat John Negroponte is considered likely to win Senate confirmation as America's first director of national intelligence. But expect to hear much in the coming days about controversy dogging Negroponte over his last four decades of government service. The 65- year-old Negroponte joined the Diplomatic Corps in 1960, eventually holding posts in Asia, in Europe and in Latin America. He's most recent jobs, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. until an employment last June as America's top diplomat in Baghdad.
Prior to that U.N. post though, Negroponte was linked to controversy in Central America, suspected of a key role in the Reagan administration's support of Contra rebels in Nicaragua. That as well as America's sale of missiles to Iran resulted in became known then as the Iran-Contra scandal.
It, however, was a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission that led to creating the post of national intelligence czar. And John Negroponte's nomination drew a favorable response from some key members of that panel. Former chairman Tom Kean and Vice chairman Lee Hamilton calling him a highly respected diplomat. This morning, as part of our continuing security watch, I'm joined by another former member of that commission. Tim Roemer is our guest now in D.C.
Good morning. Welcome back here.
TIM ROEMER, FMR. 9/11 COMMISSIONER: Bill, great to see you again.
HEMMER: Do you agree with the menu worked under on that commission, a highly respected diplomat and a man suited for this job?
ROEMER: I think that John Negroponte is a highly respected diplomat. That's one part of many parts of this job, Bill.
I remember in reading history when Harry Truman found out that Franklin Roosevelt had died and he had to take over as president, he said he felt like the moon, the stars and the sun had fallen on him, and he asked for a prayer.
This is a huge job, and it will depend a great deal on how much the president gives in terms of his full confidence and authority to help this new director of national intelligence win some turf battles, get some budget and personnel wins, put some priorities on changing the CIA and the FBI cultures, that are not very receptive to change, and also working with Congress to get some things done on Capitol Hill.
HEMMER: You describe this...
ROEMER: This is a big job.
HEMMER: Yes, a big job. You said a huge job earlier. Apparently, the former CIA director, Robert Gates, reportedly turned this offer down. Do you believe John Negroponte can win in this job, as you describe it, as huge?
ROEMER: I think that he can. I think he's got a lot of work ahead of him, Bill. We've got to see how we unify and coordinate 15 disparate agencies. We have to install confidence back in the kind of product that the intelligence community puts out there, after the mistakes on misgauging and making some mistakes leading up to 9/11, and on weapons of mass destruction leading into Iraq.
If you're a consumer of intelligence today, if you're on Capitol Hill as a policymaker, you don't have a lot of confidence in the product coming out of some of these intelligence bureaus. That needs to be fixed.
HEMMER: For the past 24 hours, the criticism we have heard about John Negroponte is that he does not have a solid intelligence background, primarily working on the diplomatic side. Does that concern you?
ROEMER: That concerns me a little bit. Listen, there are three parts of this, just on the intelligence side. Ambassador Negroponte has the consumer, you know. He's looked at this information before. He's dealt with it, and then given feedback to the intelligence communities, particularly now in Iraq, which is a tough place, Bill.
We're finding out more and more, given the testimony of Porter Goss the other day, that Iraq is turning not only into a training ground for terrorists, but kind of a conveyor belt to spit them out all over the world, that they can then come back at us. We're worried that these terrorists now might get ahold of nuclear, chemical, biological weapons. Where I work at the Center for National Policy, we're very concerned about this possibility, and we want to work on that. That's a big part of John Negroponte's job in the future, is coordinating the FBI and the CIA's response to this, so that if a chemical or biological weapon is picked up by a terrorist group, it does not get into the United States.
HEMMER: A democratic colleague of yours, Jane Harman, said she told him apparently, you're leaving the Green Zone in Baghdad, headed for the red zone back in Washington. We'll see if, indeed, that is the case.
Good to talk with you, Tim Roemer.
ROEMER: Bill, always great to see you.
HEMMER: You got it. Have a good weekend.
And be sure to stay tuned day and night to CNN for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, Mr. Schwarzenegger goes to Washington. It's politics, California-style. The Republican governor yesterday visited Washington to meet with representatives from California. The meetings are part of a campaign to seek more federal funding. Schwarzenegger says the money is needed to do help solve the state's $8 billion budget problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: We are not asking the White House, and we are not asking the federal government or anyone here in Washington to bail us out. We are not asking to go and get a handout. We just want our fair share.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Political experts say Schwarzenegger faces an uphill battle from politically divided politicians in California.
HEMMER: From the state of Oregon, an alternative now to mud- slinging politicians, Howard Dean, who's the new head of the DNC, was debating former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle yesterday when a protester threw a shoe at Perle and called him a liar. Perle was the key architect of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq and Dean has been one of the war's most vocal opponents. A different strategy.
O'BRIEN: You can't throw your shoe and not have people know it was you, right? I mean, at some point...
HEMMER: Tough to get away when the cameras are rolling.
O'BRIEN; Unless you have an extra one in your handbag or something.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: A woman's SUV flips into an icy river. She's trapped inside. That's part of the story. A box of chocolates may have saved her life, so they say. And we'll explain that in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Also, an American soldier turned guardian angel. One man takes an Iraqi orphan into his heart and into his home.
HEMMER: Also, is there more evidence of Iran's true nuclear ambitions? A look at what could be hiding underground. That's next here on AMERICAN MORNING, live in New York City, on a Friday edition.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: New satellite pictures suggest that Iran may be building a tunnel to develop and hide nuclear weapons. That's according to an international thinktank. The photographs were taken last Saturday from a civilian satellite over central Iran. Iran contends the facility is to be used for peaceful purposes.
Spoke this morning retired Brigadier General David Grange a few moments ago, asked him what his opinion is of what's shown in the images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They are tunnels and, you know, they're for several reasons, I believe. One, the obvious reason is to protect something, to protect parts of their nuclear program, or to hide capability. The other is to store missile-launching capabilities, in other words, the launching vehicles that you would put missiles on to fire just regular conventional warheads, or if they had the capability, some type of a nuclear warhead.
And the other, which I kind of tend to go with, is that it's really more of a deception. In other words, it's great to have these things that it can put something in to protect, but it draws your attention maybe from the real area, and I think we need to consider that.
O'BRIEN: When you say deception, you mean it's -- there's another area where work's going on and it's trying to get everyone to focus on another area, or are you saying that the Iranians aren't actually as far along as everyone thinks that they are, and this is sort of a way to trick people? Diversion or deception? GRANGE: Yes, those are both great points on a vehicle of disinformation, deception. One is, they think about Saddam. He never denied with WMD, wanted a lot of people to think he did have it. And Iran can deal a little bit from the power of this unknown capability with the rest of the world, definitely get the world's attention, if they have that capability, we think they have that capability, just like North Korea.
The other is that there they're really aggressively pursuing this program, and they know that with commercial satellite capability, the whole world can see these photographs. And so why not draw everybody's attention to this site, whereas somewhere else they have a real hardcore program going on.
O'BRIEN: Well, the third version could be that this is actually a hardcore program going on and there's weapons of mass destruction being held inside that tunnel. Why don't you think that that's a viable scenario?
GRANGE: Well, it is a viable scenario. It's a bit obvious to me. I don't think that they could be that blatant. But again, maybe so. And the thing about these tunnels is it's very hard to use a conventional type munition to destroy what may be deeply inside these tunnels. It's a very difficult target with conventional warheads.
O'BRIEN: I was going to ask exactly that. Is there any way to take out something like that, that's obviously seen from a commercial satellite?
GRANGE: Well, you know, the inspection team would have a better idea of the depth of the tunnels, how many corners there are in the tunnels of blast walls, things like this, that would make it very difficult, even with some of the advance munitions, that we and other nations have to penetrate and do damage inside.
Other than that, sometimes those type of tunnels, the optimum weapon actually is another nuclear weapon, a low-yield penetrating type nuclear weapon to take something like that out.
O'BRIEN: A moment ago, you mentioned North Korea, and you've said in the past that the Iranians have learned a fair amount from North Korea. What do you mean by that?
GRANGE: Well, they're buddies, I mean, they share information, just like Iraq, Libya before they stopped, Iran, North Korea. They share information. I think they trade some things. North Korea's an expert at deception. They are the world's foremost tunnel rats. That whole country is inundated with tunnels, hard-to-get-to targets to hide capability, and just conventional weapons systems. I mean, they hide entire trains in mountainsides that are very difficult to take out in war. And I think that Iran is emulating that.
You know, it's very beneficial today to go subterranean with some of your critical capability.
(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: That's Brigadier General David Grange, retired, joining us this morning. Regarding Iran's nuclear plans, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, last visited the site in November, at which time there was no equipment in that tunnel -- bill.
HEMMER: From Maryland, Soledad, state prosecutors say they will review the case of a police officer acquitted yesterday on assault charges. That acquittal coming despite a videotape shows the officer striking a carjacking suspect while handcuffed back in 2003. The officer, rather, testified he acted after the suspect reached for his waistband as if going for a gun, and jurors say they believed the officer acted appropriately.
O'BRIEN: Well, you've heard of the health benefits of chocolate. But in Canada, a box of chocolates may have helped save a woman's life. On Valentine's Day, the woman's SUV flipped into a freezing river in southeast British Columbia. She was trapped inside for about two hours, breathing out of an air pocket. At one point she nibbled on some chocolates from a heart-shaped box.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON GRYPMA, NELSON FIRE & RESCUE: The sugar content of the chocolate helped maintain some of her body warmth and slow down the set-in of hypothermia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Rescuers then were able to pull the woman out of a window and she, in fact, was hospitalized for hypothermia and eventually released.
HEMMER: She won't forget that Valentine's Day, will she?
O'BRIEN: She really loves that guy.
HEMMER: I'm telling you.
In a moment here, Congress makes sweeping changes to the rules on class-action lawsuits. Some consumer groups, though, not happy about it.
Andy Serwer explains, "Minding Your Business" in a moment here, back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everyone. A big victory for some big companies. Andy has that, plus a check of Wall Street from yesterday.
"Minding Your Business." Happy Friday to you. Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good to see you this Friday.
Back down the roller coaster we go on Wall Street. The Dow down 80 points yesterday. Stocks spooked a bit by President Bush's comments about Syrian troops needing to exit Lebanon. Also, Alan Greenspan's remarks about interest rates going up. Why is that a surprise to anybody?
President Bush is set to sign a bill this morning that could significantly change the way class-action lawsuits are filed in this country. And listen up, because this is actually big news. The bill makes it easier for defendants, now it's mostly big business, to move lawsuits from state courts to federal courts.
Here's how it would work: If the lawsuit is filed in multiple states and is more than $5 million, it could go to federal court. That prevents lawyers from shopping cases around to counties that are very friendly to class-action lawsuits. And I think if you're a Republican or a Democrat, you can acknowledge that there have been abuses in this system.
Let's talk about some of the counties where these cases have been shopped. Very interesting. These are litigation-friendly counties -- Madison County, Illinois is known as the class-action county Capitol of the world -- the class-action lawsuits of Madison County. Also St. Clair County of Illinois. The other one was actually in Iowa. That was the bridges of Madison County. Hampton County, South Carolina, Jefferson County, Texas. These are counties where if you have, say a group of litigants suing a drug company, you want to get your case in this county, because jurors and state judges are very friendly there. So big companies have obviously been pushing this, and we'll really have to see how this changes class-action landscape.
HEMMER: Madison County is where in Illinois?
SERWER: I believe it's downstate, yes, because of farmers down there, retired farmers, they say friendly.
HEMMER: So you go against the client in that particular jurisdiction, and you've got the case.
SERWER: Yes, that's absolutely correct, you find one there. It's an interesting system.
HEMMER: All right, thank you, Andy.
SERWER: Talk to you later.
O'BRIEN: Talking about lawsuits, this certainly has lawsuit written all over it.
CAFFERTY: Oh yes, maybe. Well, We'll see. Lose weight or lose your job. That's what Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel and Casino is telling its 210 cocktail waitresses. They're called the Borgata Babes. They're touted as the sexiest cocktail waitresses in Atlantic City. Nobody's arguing. Borgata imposed the weight restrictions on its servers after seeing some of the staff beginning to ooze out of their skimpy costumes.
Now all servers have to step on the scale to determine their baseline weight. If they gain more than 7 percent, they'll be suspended and put on a Borgata-sponsored weight-loss program. If they don't lose the weight, they're fired. Women's rights advocates and of course the cocktail waitress union are furious. They're calling the new policy discriminatory. The casino says the Borgata Babes are a part of their image, part of their marketing plan, and therefore, they can do whatever they want.
Here's the question, should employees be fired for gaining weight? Am@CNN.com.
HEMMER: Yes, not a bad casino down there, by the way. Atlantic city has had a tough couple years.
SERWER: Yes, but what if we were held to that?
O'BRIEN: And so not the question.
SERWER: You're dodging it, Bill.
HEMMER: But if you're ever in Atlantic City, it's not a bad joint to hang out.
O'BRIEN: But maybe not go to the bar. You might not want to support an organization that does that. Or maybe you would. I guess we'll hear from the viewers, won't we?
HEMMER: Seven percent.
SERWER: Yes, 7 percent solution.
O'BRIEN: That's not very much weight, by the way. I gained 40 percent of my body weight when I was pregnant with the twins. So 7 percent is just a handful of pounds. I am so far from Borgata Babe, not even funny.
Anyway, enough about that. A short break, and we're right back.
Ahead on "90-Second Pop," George Michael sets the record straight before he calls it quits. What does he mean when he says he's going to disappear?
Plus, "American Idol" is as successful as ever. But what's this we hear about friction between the judges? That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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